The Heart of the Hero
by Aquarius142
Summary: The charaters are Player Charaters. Xandria and Ky-ele grew up in the impoverished town of Fayhollow in the Summerhollow Isles in the North Sea. But once they leave their home, they begin a life of adventure on the main land of Gielinor.
1. Prologue

"Come on, Ky, the shipments leaving Manaron aren't going to wait for you!" Xandria called as she waited impatiently outside her best friend's house. She loved heading to the cliffs near Manaron to watch the ships leave, and dream of adventures away from her small home on the Summerhollow Isles.

She sighed, still waiting for Ky-ele, as a soft, salty breeze blew through her dark curls. Her intense blue eyes scanned her home town of Fayhollow. Although it was the largest town within the Isles, it was far from rich. Her eyes moved to the mine entrance down the hill. Fayhollow's main export was tin and copper, and no matter how much was mined, the Isles never benefitted. Manaron held Summerhollow's port. There were few fishing ships that ported at Manaron, but none were very successful.

Her eyes moved on to the ocean, and the small island hardly half a mile out from Summerhollow. It was Antum, where, within Faircliff Forest, was a tree farm, though all that could grow within the farm were a couple dozen oak trees and a handful of maples.

Her parents, of course, were very content with their lives, so it was up to Xandria to change her life. She had always loved sitting with Ky-ele, coming up with outlandish ways of getting off the tiny island. Everything from building their own boat to wishing themselves away had been thought of, and the ideas were beginning to become more outlandish every time.

Just as she began to ponder more realistic ways on how to get away, Ky-ele's door opened and out stepped her best friend.

"Well, you took your time," she said shortly as he shut the door.

"Sorry, but mom needed help with my brothers and sisters."

"Oh. Your father and Nicolas already left?" But she could already see it in his eyes. His warm brown eyes were always happy and smiling but were now tired from waking up early to help his mother.

He nodded. "They left early, hoping that they can find a new spot to fish. They're hoping that they can find where the fish have gone before the rest of the fishing boats do. The thing is though, it's been really hard on my mom, she's been needing me to help with the rest of my brothers and sisters."

"Oh, well, I'll make sure that you manage to get some fun in, okay? Now, let's go before the ships leave." She turned and ran through the town, heading for the cliffs, before he could respond.

He sighed and followed.

This was always how their friendship was. Xandria was the leader and had the wild dreams of adventure, while Ky-ele was the anchor to reality. But he never minded, Xandria was his best friend, and although she sometimes got out of hand with her adventures, it was his way of getting away from the troubles at home.

Together, the two thirteen year olds ran through the market, pushing passed the adults with their goods for sale. They watched the two run through, and shook their heads before returning about their business.

Xandria and Ky-ele made it to the woods, running towards Glassedge Cliff, their favorite getaway. There was a small, crystal clear lake that they often cooled down on hot summer days. Xandria's footfalls splashed through the shallows, quickly followed by Ky-ele's. They quickly crossed the tree line, and ducked below the low evergreen branches and made it to the cliff's edge. The cliff was a peninsula that jutted out into the ocean. One side faced west, overlooking the harbor and a perfect spot to watch sunsets. The other side faced east, looking out at the ocean. The sun had just managed to break free of the horizon.

A wide smiled appeared on Xandria's face as she breathed deeply the fresh, salty sea air. "I love it here," she said as she sat, dangling her feet over the edge.

Ky-ele sat silently next to her, his eyes on the large ships in the port below. After a long silence, the only sound coming from the crashing wave far beneath them, Ky-ele said, "Where do you think the shipments will go?"

"It could be anywhere," Xandria said, sounding amazed, "Our tin and copper could be turned to bronze weapons for some army, or the few fish we manage to catch could end up on the plates of royals in Varrock."

"You really think so?"

"Why not? In the rest of Gielinor, anything is possible. They can ship out supplies anywhere they're needed."

Ky-ele studied her for a long while.

"What?" she said finally catching on to his staring.

"You really want to leave this place, don't you?'

"Of course I do, there's so many things to see. Don't you want to go too?"

"I don't know." She sat in silence, waiting for him to continue, so he did, "It's just there's no guarantee that leaving here would bring a better life."

"You'll see, you're wrong."

He sighed and let it drop. He knew her plan. She wanted both of them to stow away on a boat at the first opportune moment and start a life of adventure. Growing up, he always thought it was her imagination, but now that they were older, he knew she was serious.

He felt bad that it would never happen for her and she'd be on Summerhollow Isle for a long while.

Finally, the boat below hauled up the anchor and let loose the sails and they soon began to sail away.

"Someday," whispered Xandria, "Someday, we'll be on a ship, just like that, sailing towards a new life."

And a new life did come, but it wasn't what Xandria expected. It was one that nobody within the Summerhollow Isles would've ever expected.

It was almost a year later, shortly after Ky-ele's fourteenth birthday and many things had already changed. Xandria and Ky-ele had grown closer than just simple friends. Some of the time that would've been spent on their adventures became times of them sitting under the trees together, Xandria wrapped in Ky-ele's arms. Once in a while, these moments were accompanied by a kiss, which was quickly followed by giggles from Xandria. Although she would never forget about her want to leave, she knew how he didn't like talking about it, so she kept quiet.

One early-summer morning, Ky-ele sat leaning against a tree, Xandria wrapped in his arms as they watched the sun rise from the sea, relaxing before spending the day hunting.

Xandria sighed, enjoying the beautiful sunrise and the comforting arms around her. She leaned her head back against his shoulder.

He hugged her close and kissed her temple. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

It took her a moment to take in what he said and realize that it was the first time he'd said it to her. She smiled. "I love you too," she said happily.

He hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. "Come on," he said, "We should get those traps set up."

She sighed. "But you're so comfy," she said and laughed before getting up.

He laughed with her and got up, picking up the bundle traps. They worked together setting up the traps and baiting them, hoping to catch a few rabbits for their families.

It was already late morning when they had finished setting up all of the traps. They were so busy setting up the traps that they didn't notice the dark grey clouds rolling in. Soon, large raindrops splashed down on them, soaking them in the few seconds that it took for them to take shelter under the trees.

"I didn't know it was supposed to rain today," said Xandria loudly over the roar of the down pour.

"Neither did I," said Ky-ele, rain dripping from his hair, "I'm not sure if my father knew about it either. Hopefully it doesn't get too bad. He and Nicolas left early this morning, maybe they'll be back soon."

A bright flash of lightning streaked across the sky and was instantly followed by a loud boom of thunder that shook the ground. Ky-ele held Xandria close as the intense thunder and lightning continued.

"We need to go back home," said Ky-ele, shouting over the storm.

Xandria shook her head. "Manaron is closer, we can get shelter there." She took his hand in hers and started to run to the port. The ground shook beneath them with every mighty clap of thunder as they quickly made their way through the gates of Manaron.

The two teenagers found cover under overhang on the front of one of the shops along the street that overlooked the bay. For there, it was very obvious that the sea was just as stormy as the sky above. Huge waves rose up and crashed violently against the rocks and wooden beams of the docks, sending a salty spray up to mix with the rain.

"Look," said Ky-ele, raising his voice over the added noise of the roar of the ocean. Xandria looked out to the ocean where Ky-ele was pointing. She saw as some of the fishing vessels tried to make it into the safety of the bay. A rogue wave lifted the boats and slammed them into the rocks around the entrance of the bay, splintering them like they were toy boats.

Xandria gasped in horror. "They'll never survive those waters," she said, burying her face into his chest. But Ky-ele never looked away from the wrecked ships.

"Dad and Nicolas are still out there," he said quietly.

She wrapped her arms around him. "They'll be okay," she said, "I know they'll be okay."

They waited out the rest of the storm sitting under the overhang, wrapped in each other's arms. Hours passed until the rain finally let up and the thunder and lightning ceased. They left their shelter, just as others began to emerge from their houses.

The beach was littered with planks of wood from the ships, and the families of the fishermen who had been out in the storm rummaged through the debris, looking and hoping to find any signs of life. Ky-ele was quickly among them, looking for any sign of his father or Nicolas. Xandria sat on the edge of one of the docks, watching her friend. She saw him freeze as he picked up a tattered plank, but with his back to her, she couldn't see what it was. She stood and went over to see what it was that stopped him.

He held a cracked board in his hands, just staring at the writing across it. Her heart sank, reading 'Grace' carved and painted onto the wood. She had seen those same words painted across the back of Ky-ele's family's boat, The Ancient Grace.

"Ky-ele, I'm so sorry," she said.

"They were out there," he said quietly, "They were out there and they crashed along the coast. They're gone…"

"You don't know that," she said. "They could still be out there, no one has gotten the chance to look for any of the sailors. They'll show up."

He just nodded slightly, still holding on tightly to the scrap wood.

As the hours passed, only a handful of fishermen were found in the water and even fewer returned in their boats. The hours turned to a day, and as the days passed, the hope of finding any of the lost fishermen dwindled. Sixteen men were lost to the sea, leaving many families without heads of the family. Ky-ele's family was one such family.

The loss of the fishing fleet hit the communities of Summerhollow hard. After a couple days, the beaches were cleared of the wrecks, along with a number of unfortunate bodies. Ky-ele's father and brother were never found.

Life in the Summerhollow Isle returned to relatively normal, though the families that were hit the hardest struggled. Ky-ele was now left taking care of his family, since he was now the oldest of his brothers and sisters. Since they had lost their boat, Ky-ele was forced to work in the mines in Fayhollow, which was just as dangerous.

This left Xandria alone most of the time, and while she worked with her family in the bakery, her mind would wonder back to her daydreams of adventures.

Every so often, her parents would send her down to the port to trade with the over seas merchants. It was on one of those trips that she noticed the new ship.

She walked down the streets, buying what she needed from the vendors. She stopped at the herbalist to pick up a remedy for their sick mule that powered the grain grinder in the bakery.

Xandria glanced into the harbor as the woman gathered up the herbs she had requested. She spotted the unfamiliar ship instantly; newly painted letters were bright against the wood. "The Bright Warrior?" she asked.

The woman looked over. "Aye," she said, measuring out the dried herbs, "Someone new took an interest in our ores. I heard it was one of the Fremennik tribes." She shook her head. "Always feuding, those tribes. That ore is just going to go into those feuds. Well, rather them than us really, and they're paying better than the last buyer." She handed Xandria the small pouch of herbs. "Just mix this in with the mule's food, and she'll be all good."

Xandria nodded. "Right, thanks," she said, hardly listening. She carefully tucked the herb pouch away as she hurried down the street of merchants towards the ships. The Bright Warrior sat alone at one of the docks, no one around to watch the ship.

She slipped effortlessly onto the ship and looked around. She even dared to head below deck and though the crew was there, they didn't notice the young girl as they rested from the long journey. She explored the interior of the ship and even found a good hide away place in the store room.

She smiled to herself as she left the ship. She may have just found her way out of Summerhollow.

Every Essianday, Xandria made it up to Glassedge Cliff to see if The Bright Warrior returned to the port. She was pleased to see that, like clockwork, the ship sailed into the harbor early in the morning and didn't leave until late the next day. Finally, nearly a month later, the perfect moment came. It was Ivanday and Ky-ele had the day off.

Together, Xandria and Ky-ele walked up to Glassedge Cliff, all the while, Xandria went over what she was going to tell him.

Ky-ele flopped down at the cliff side, tired from a month of nearly solid work below ground.

Xandria sat quietly beside him, her eyes trained on her escape, The Bright Warrior, which would be leaving in only a few short hours.

Ky-ele watched her for a couple minutes then said, "You're quiet."

Xandria shook her head and returned to where she was. "Sorry, I was thinking."

He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "Oh? What's on your mind?"

She looked up at him. "Leaving."

He sighed. "You can't still be thinking about that."

"Not just thinking. Planning, Ky-ele."

"Planning? What do you mean?"

She pointed to the ship below. "See that? That's The Bright Warrior. It's been here every Essianday and leaving Ivanday with a cargo of ores. It's going to be leaving in just a few hours. I've gone down and checked it out, it'll be simple for us to sneak on board and stow away in storage. It's perfect." She smiled, proud of her plan.

But his reaction wasn't what she expected.

His arms dropped from around her. He stared at her in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be? I've been dreaming of this my entire life, you know that. And now we have a chance to leave, Ky-ele."

"We?" he said, sounding angry, "Did you ever think that I don't want to leave?"

"But I-"

"No, you haven't. I have to provide for my family since the storm. They need me now that my father and Nicolas are dead."

"Ky-ele, I know their loss has been hard on your family, but how can you help them on what? A miner's wages? You can support them from the main land. We can go and make much better money and send it back to them. Everything will be fine."

"You don't know that, Xandria. We could leave and end up homeless in some city." She went to cut in, but he continued. "This is just your way of running away from your problems here. You need to grow up and deal with your life."

Tears began to gloss her eyes as his words cut deep. She struggled to find something to say back, but found nothing. She turned on her heels and began to storm away, but stopped, turning back to him, tears streaming down her cheeks, and said simply, "You'll see." She turned and disappeared among the trees.

Ky-ele stood, staring at the spot that she disappeared in the trees, still angry. As the minutes passed, with only the sound of the crashing waves below, he began to calm down. He felt sorry for his words, even if that was how he felt, he cared about her.

He'd apologize tomorrow, it was no use going to her now, she was too angry with him.

He walked home slowly, and despite the argument he had with Xandria, he fell asleep almost the instant he laid down in his bed.

It was a short night, and he was still tired when he woke the next morning. He got out of bed and got ready for another day in the mines. As he headed towards the mines, he took a detour to Xandria's house. The warm scent of fresh baking bread floated in the air around the bakery attached to her home, making him wish he had had time for breakfast.

He stepped up to the side door by the kitchen, and took a deep breath before knocking. He went over his apology as footsteps came to the door. They were too heavy to be Xandria's.

As he guessed, Xandria's mother answered. "Oh, hello, Ky-ele," she said, wiping the flour from her hands onto her apron, "What are you doing here so early?"

"I wanted to talk to Xandria."

"She's not here. I had thought she was out camping in the woods with you."

Ky-ele sighed. "No, we had an argument last night."

"Is everything okay?"

"She stormed off upset. She's probably still in the woods. I'll go look for her once my shift is done in the mines."

Her mother nodded and disappeared for a moment, before returning with a small bag. She handed it to him. It was warm in his hands. "Be careful in those mines."

He nodded a thanks and headed to a long day of work.

The sun had already disappeared by the time Ky-ele emerged from the earth. He was tired and wanted nothing more than to go home and rest, but he owed it to his friend to apologize. He sighed, gathering his remaining energy, and headed into the woods.

After hours of searching, there was nowhere left she could've been. He sat at the cliff, thinking. He was staring down at the harbor when it came to him.

"She left," he said to himself. "She left on that ship, and I won't see her again." This tore at him, but he wouldn't let himself believe it. She couldn't be gone. She was just out in the woods somewhere he didn't check. He nodded, trying to convince himself of it. He headed home, hopeful.

But as days passed, his hope dwindled. Soon, as summer and fall passed into winter, everyone had given up hope of seeing Xandria again.

**So, this is my fanfiction about Runescape, and while it's taking place in a part of Gielinor that I've made up, the story WILL be moving to the mainland Gielinor that we all know and love. =) **

**While this is going to be my main story (well, there may be another if I get the inspiritation for another), I will definitely be going to writing other stories, one shots if you will, that may or may not be about Xandria or Ky-ele. But I'm definitely open for prompts for those other stories (they can be based off quests, or skills, or anything, really, even holiday events), that's if anyone actuallys reads this. -_- =)**


	2. Chapter 1

_ "How long, Ky-ele?" she whispered._

_ He didn't answer._

_ "Tell me, Ky-ele. How long has it been?" she urged him._

_ "Fourteen years?"_

_ "Is that a question?"_

_ "No. It's been fourteen years."_

_ "Do you remember that day?"_

_ "Of course."_

_ "Does it hurt?"_

_ Again, he returned to silence._

_ "Does it hurt?" she repeated with authority._

_ Silence._

_ "Answer me, Ky-ele!"_

Ky-ele woke suddenly, drenched in a cold sweat. He stared at the dark ceiling as he calmed himself. He wasn't sure what triggered these dreams, these nightmares, that began years ago, nor did he like them. He knew the voice was supposed to be Xandria's, but it was as if she had grown up too. He sighed, hating his imagination, as he got out of bed.

He pulled on a shirt and jacket and headed downstairs quietly. It was early, even for him to be up, but he couldn't return to sleep after that dream.

As he stepped into the kitchen, his stomach growled, and he sighed. There was food, but not enough for him to take now. Even fourteen years of working in the mines and a couple years of his younger twin brothers working with him, they still had no money. It didn't help that just three short years after his father's death, his mother passed away. That left Ky-ele, only seventeen at the time, to take care of his five younger siblings.

He shook his head and stepped outside. He paid no attention to the pre-dawn chill as he began to walk. Naturally after that dream, his thoughts were on Xandria. As he walked through town, memories played before him. The water pump flashed back to when they were little and would help one another get water. Then when he reached the woods, he'd watch young versions of them setting up snares and catching rabbits or birds to take home for dinner. His feet absently took him to Glassedge Cliff, a place he hadn't been since the day after their argument.

Instantly, the argument played out before him, as it had done in his mind a hundred times before. Despite all the years that had passed, it was still so fresh in his mind. Even now as he watched, he could see how hurt she was, how the tree branches snapped back into position after she has hurriedly pushed her way through them, and how he had been so stubborn to not go after her. They had both been so childish, had he just stopped her, made her understand, she'd still be there with him.

He shook the memory away and sat at the edge of the cliff. "Yes, Xandria," he whispered sadly, "Yes, it hurts. It hurts every day to know that I've lost my best friend."

He sat, as if expecting to hear her voice reply, but the silence stretched on.

He watched as the sun began to rise over the horizon. He glanced down at the port and noticed a large ship mooring at the docks. His eyes traveled up the main mast and to the flag. There was a grey fox sitting at the bottom of the flag looking up at a crescent moon above on a deep blue background. His eyes moved back down to the ship, moving along the deck, watching as the sailors as they went about their duties. His eyes fell up on the only figure not moving.

Even from the cliff he could see it was a woman, standing at the railing, looking up at the cliffs. At him. They seemed to stare at each other for a short while until someone came up to her and spoke to her. By the time the woman turned back, Ky-ele was gone from the cliffs above.

Ky-ele was running back to Fayhollow. By the time he got to the village square, many people were up and buzzing with new of the ship in the port. Soon people began to head to the port to find out for themselves.

The port was packed with most of the citizens of the Summerhallow Isles. Rumors buzzed around the crowd wildly as they looked on to the unfamiliar ship.

"I heard that it's the ship of a master of the black market, here to sell his goods."

"No, no, I heard it's some prince looking for a young woman to make his bride. Gabriel, go and fetch your sister."

Ky-ele ignored the rumors around him and watched the now empty deck of the _Celestial Hawk_.

Someone nudged his elbow. He turned to find the kind face of his good friend, Annie. Her soft, green eyes looked back at him, then to the ship. "Have you heard anything?" she asked, making room for herself beside him.

"Nothing that is based on any solid fact."

"Well, apparently there is supposed to be an announcement, if there's any truth in that," she said, rolling her eyes, "Some of these rumors have been completely senseless." She glanced over to the woman who was still calling out to her son, Gabriel.

Ky-ele laughed while those around him looked up to the boat. He followed their gaze up to the railing of the ship. A young man had stepped up to the railing, and the crowd fell silent, eager to hear what he had to say.

He cleared his throat and spoke out over the crowd, "People of the Summerhallow Isles, King Roland Remanis the Third of Varrock has sent myself, along with a mighty warrior to ask for help. War is approaching Varrock from the north, and though we have many good warriors, we are severely outnumbered. We come in search of strong young men who are willing to fight for the kingdom."

There was a silence hanging over the crowd, which the man seemed to expect, and he continued.

"You'll hear more from the Lady who had come to speak to you all. She's a mighty hero, who has traveled through much of the world and had helped many people along those travels…"

As the man continued his speech, people turned their attention to a young woman, who was leaning on the railing, pretending to be interested in the man's speech.

"That can't be…" whispered Annie.

"Who?" asked Ky-ele, looking from Annie to the woman.

"…and so, now she's here on the king's behalf to protect the kingdom of Misthalin-"

Finally it clicked with someone in the crowd. "Xandria!" they called out.

_"Why, Xandria?"_

_ "You know perfectly well why."_

_ "Tell me, please."_

_ "I needed to go and explore."_

_ "I wish that you never left me."_

_ "I wanted you to come with me, you know that."_

_ "And you know that I couldn't leave."_

_ "But I've told you of what I've been through, what I've accomplished. Your family would've been fine."_

_ There was silence for a while and she began to worry that he was gone when he said, "Tell me a story."_

_ She smiled to herself and thought up a memory for him to see. She was glad to feel him enjoy the memory as he watched her fight._

_ "I love you, Xandria."_

The ship rolled and woke Xandria. She wiped the tears from her cheeks, ones that were always there when she woke from those dreams.

Since she first went to Lunar Isle and learned their spell of communication through dreams she had attempted to connect with Ky-ele. Every so often there was a connection as strong as the one that just happened, but often when she attempted to make the connection, it lead to nothing.

She sighed, planning to return to the Lunar Isle for more, what they called, 'dream training' once the war was over. Every strong connection she made always ended the same way. His words, the same three words -I love you-she needed to know why.

She set her feet to the smooth wooden floor and got out of bed. She pulled open the small wardrobe, then sighed. Aaron, King Roland's personal tailor, had packed the wardrobe full of clothes far too extravagant. She knew Aaron well, and he always did this, trying to make her more then she really was. She wondered why she had even said yes to him as she picked out the simplest outfit.

She sat on the bed after getting dressed and worked on the many buckles of her tall boots, buckles that came up past her knees. There was a knock on her door just as she finished. "Come in," she said.

Brand opened the door and stepped in, his short dirty blond hair was still stuck up in random directions and his deep brown eyes were heavy with sleep.

She smiled. "Good morning, your highness," she joked.

He glared at her sleepily. "Stop that," he said as he moved to sit beside her on the bed. He laid back, his legs dangling off the edge.

She laid back with him, resting her head on his shoulder.

He looked at her and yawned as he spoke.

She laughed. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you just said."

He smiled and finished yawning before asking, "Why is everyone up so early?"

"Because we're ported in Manaron."

"And you're wide awake and excited about that?"

"Of course I am, Brand," she said.

He looked at her for a short while then smiled. "I'll never understand you adventurers." He leaned in and kissed his forehead softly.

She smiled and curled up closer to him. After a couple minutes, when Xandria began to worry that Brand had fallen asleep, she whispered, "I have to head up to the deck. You should get ready."

"Alright," he said, returning the softness. He kissed her gently and let her go.

She got up from the bed and quietly shut the door behind her, knowing very well that the prince was already fast asleep on her bed. The halls of the ship were dark and quiet. With the footsteps coming from above, Xandria knew that most of the crew was hard at work.

She climbed the stairs and stepped out into the chilled summer morning air on deck. Crew members hurried around her, working on setting the Celestial Hawk to port. She stretched the sleepiness from her muscles as the sun slowly crept over the horizon. She stood there, welcoming the warmth of the sun and the chill of the air, before looking to the port town.

From what it seemed, Manaron hadn't changed much since the night she snuck on board the Bright Warrior. She moved to the railing and looked up at the cliffs, specifically Glassedge Cliff. She sighed as she thought about the dream connection the night before, and of Ky-ele.

She was worried, worried about seeing Ky-ele after all these years. Sure, within connections Ky-ele was happy to hear from her and even said that he loved her, but she knew she couldn't be certain about them. She didn't know what she was communicating with, for all she knew she could've been interacting with his memories, which meant she wouldn't know how he truly felt. This made her nervous, something she had never felt even going into the most dangerous situations.

Just as she was about to turn her back to the cliffs, she saw a figure step out of the trees and sit on the edge of the cliff. She squinted, trying to make out any details. Unfortunately, they were just too far away.

Her focus was so trained on the cliffs, the second mate of the ship startled as he spoke, "M'lady, the ship is set, and the leader of Manaron wishes to speak to you."

She smiled. "I'm sure Garren will be on top of making a full blown announcement."

The second mate smiled. "Just like when we ported in Al Kharid?"

Xandria laughed. "Don't remind me of that. Pray to Guthix that he doesn't do that again."

He laughed along with her. "Will do, m'lady." With that, he turned and left her.

She looked back up to the cliffs, but the figure was gone. She sighed and went back below deck to make sure Brand was ready for the introduction.

She was glad to see by the time that she had returned to her small cabin that Brand left to get ready. Or at least she hoped that he went to get ready, because she realized he could've easily just returned to his room and fallen back asleep. She sighed, deciding to just let it go.

She rummaged through one of her bags and found a small leather pouch. She laid back on to her bed and poured some small rune stones out into her palm. She sorted through them, picking out three different kinds- water, air, and mind. She closed her hand over them, and they crumbled into nothing and a small orb of water appeared, floating above her hand.

She absentmindedly played with the small ball of water as she stared at the ceiling. She was never great with magic, except Lunar magic which seemed to baffle people, but the least she could manage was a simple water spell which she would play with while she'd let her mind wonder.

The time that passed felt like hours to her as she thought about everything. Finally the deck above quieted, and she knew it was about time that Garren would be making his announcement speech. The small orb of water dissipated and she got up, headed for the deck.

As she figured, the deck was empty, save for one man standing by the railing of the ship, addressing the crowd. Garren was just a few years older than her, and he took great pride in what he did, although she was never quite sure what it was that he did, other than tend to take things a little too far when announcing her arrival.

"…in search of strong men who are willing to fight to the kingdom."

She sighed and shook her head, knowing how he was about to continue.

"You'll hear more from the Lady who had come to speak to you all. She's a mighty hero, who has traveled through much of the world and had helped many people along those travels…"

Xandria walked forward and leaned against the railing, acting as if she was interest in what Garren was telling the crowd below.

"She's fought against a demon cult saving Varrock, and infiltrated a troll army and helped Burthorpe defend themselves…"

She looked down at the crowd, noticing that some were looking at her. In a select few, she could see the wheels turning behind their curious looks. She smiled, they almost knew who she was.

Suddenly, she heard someone call out, "Xandria!"

The man stopped talking and looked down the deck, glaring slightly at Xandria, who shrugged.

"Sorry, Garren, we can't have a repeat of Al Kharid," she said with a laugh.

"But I didn't-" he stammered in attempts to defend himself.

"It's okay, Garren, this is my home."

The man, Garren, looked crest-fallen, then stepped back, allowing Xandria to take over.

Xandria pulled herself up over the railing, and dropped herself onto the dock the ship was moored at. She looked around at the faces staring back at her. She smiled. "It has been a while. Fourteen years. And a lot has happened, as Garren has begun to tell you all. But those stories are not why I'm here. I am here on behalf of King Roland. A war is coming. And even though its half a world away, it will affect every one of you here. It's the trade center of the world, and if Varrock falls, conditions here would become much worse," she said.

The crowd received the news in silence.

"But that can wait for now. I've brought many things with me from the main land, things that I hope might improve some things on the islands," she said. She glanced over the crowd and spotted the elder leader of Manaron making his way through the crowd towards her. "Ah, Omrod Stine, how good it is to see you again."

The plump elder stepped out of the crowd, smiling warmly at her. "Ah, Xandria, welcome back home," he said.

She bowed respectfully to him. "Thank you, sir."

He nodded to her. "Now, how about we go back up to the council house and discuss what's going to happen."

She nodded. "Lead the way, sir," she said, then followed the elder through the crowd.

The crowd parted for them, and watched as Xandria and the elder leader walked by. Ky-ele kept his eyes on her, hoping she'd see him, but also hoping that he just disappear into the crowd. But Xandria passed him and there was no sign of recognition in her face.

But what he didn't know was she did see him, that her heart began to pound, seeing his face once more. She was glad that she couldn't deal with it now. Now all she had to do was convince a community to give up its young men to a war in a far off land. Easy.

**Yeah, I know Prince Brand is supposed to be "rather vain", but, you know, I just couldn't do that to my Xandria. No matter how much of a favor it would be for King Vargas, Xandria would never even TOLERATE the real Prince Brand (that and it has been a while since I've done that quest, and I really can't remember what he was like). But, hey, it's fanFICTION, I have some kind of license to do as I wish =) **

**And to those who don't play (which I doubt you would even be here if you didn't play…unless you were sent by a certain darrenchris6 [she is my bestie, and she writes Glee fanfiction, and since she gave me a shout out, here's mine to her. GO READ HER STORIES! It doesn't matter if you don't like Glee, and I don't, the story themselves are really, really good. AND I kind of help her figure things out for her stories. So…GO. READ. NOW. 3]), OR if you play as a non-member, OR if you don't/can't use the Lunar spell book, the way that Xandria contacts Ky-ele would be the spell NPC Contact, it's just been changed a tad for this.**

**Cheers til next time. 3**


	3. Chapter 2

Over the next week or so, Xandria set about the island, distributing the gifts that she had brought with her. She went first to Antum, bringing a number of small saplings with her. She gathered the lumber yard workers and explained carefully how to take care of the trees as she planted them in fertile soil.

"Now," she said, standing and brushing the dirt from her hands, "Be sure to take good care of those trees. The seeds for those trees are extremely rare." She pointed to the short row of small, pale barked saplings. "Those will become great mahogany trees in some years' time, and those will become hardy yew trees." She nodded to the other row of saplings that she had planted, ones with much darker bark.

The workers seemed to be disappointed about the time it would take for the trees to mature enough to make any kind of profit off of.

But Xandria smiled and reassured them. "It will be more than worth your time and effort it takes to bring up these trees. And in the meantime there are still the oaks and maples."

Once the lumber workers were satisfied, she moved on to the docks of Manaron, where she taught the fishermen some techniques that she had learned on the mainland.

She looked out of place among the burly men, and many of them were skeptical about what a woman could teach them about fishing, something that many of them had spent most of their lives doing.

The entire group took one of the larger fishing vessels out into the harbor, and each man watched with curiosity as Xandria moved to the open back of the boat and stuck her hand into the water. Minutes passed before Xandria smiled and pulled her hand from the water with a decent sized tuna, its mouth firmly around her fist.

"That's totally barbaric," said one of the young fishermen as she pulled the fish from her hand and cut it with a knife from her belt. The fish stopped flopping about as its blood fell to the deck boards.

Xandria nodded, smiling at the young man. "That's exactly what it is," she said, "I learned it from a barbarian named Otto not too far south from here." Her intense eyes scanned over all of them. "And now, I'm going to teach all of you."

The fishermen lined up along the edge of the boat, and, with much hesitance, plunged their hands into the water.

"Wiggle your fingers," she encouraged. "Makes the fish think there's a tasty treat in it for them."

It didn't take long until the men were pulling fish from the ocean. Hesitance quickly gave way to competition as they fought to see who could pull up the biggest tuna. Xandria smile, glad to see they had taken so well to the barbarian fishing.

It wasn't long until she was down in the mines of Fayhollow. She didn't bring any new equipment or anything, but she helped them find new, more valuable ore. And with the new, more valuable ore, would come new prospective buyers to the Isles.

And that day, although he couldn't afford it, Ky-ele avoided the mines. Ever since she arrived, he avoided her. He headed up to Glassedge Cliff, away from everyone that spoke of Xandria and her gifts. He needed to be alone. He'd always thought that he wanted to see his best friend again, but now, here she was, and he couldn't be any more conflicted.

He sighed and shook his head as he broke through the tree line, then froze in his tracks.

There she was, sitting at the cliff with her back to him, dangling her feet over the cliff side, just like she had done so many years ago.

"Hello, Ky-ele," she said without looking at him.

Ky-ele took a step away, unsure of what to say or do, almost hoping he could get away before she addressed him again.

She turned her cool blue eyes to him. "Don't go, Ky-ele."

He shook his head. He had heard her voice before, this exact voice, in his dreams. He had heard her speech on the docks a few days ago, but that was to the crowd. Here with just the two of them, her voice was the same, just lacking the harshness of when she spoke in his dreams.

She patted the ground beside her. "Come sit."

He was silent for a moment. "Why should I? You left me. Why should I listen to you?"

She sighed slightly. "Ky-ele. Come on, it has been fourteen years. Can you just put that all behind you so we can talk like civil people?"

"No." He turned and began to talk away.

"I knew they were misleading," she said quietly, turning back to the ocean.

He stopped, and knowing he'd regret it, he turned back to her. "What?"

She sighed as she thought. "A couple years back I traveled to Lunar Isle, not too far north of here. They taught me much of their magic. One technique was to communicate through dreams."

He stared at her in disbelief at what he was hearing.

She waited for him to say something, but when he didn't she continued. "Once I had learned how to do it properly, I tried to contact you. It doesn't always work so well because I don't have the altar or all of the items that they use on Lunar Isle. But, on some occasions, I can manage a strong enough connection where I can have some kind of communication with you."

"When was the last time you did this?" he said after a few moments of taking in what she said. There was a harsh tone to his voice, one of obvious anger.

She thought back. "The morning I arrived here," she said, noting the anger in his voice. "Why?"

"It was you," he said with realization. "All this time it's been you, not just my imagination running wild."

"Ky-ele, what are you talking about?"

"For years now I have been plagued by nightmares, Xandria. Nightmares of you and less than kind words that you had for me. And it is because you tried using that…barbaric magic to get into my dreams," he said, not relenting on his old friend. "You had no right in thinking that what you were was okay."

"Ky-ele, it was never my intention to-" she started, but he wouldn't hear it.

"I don't care what your intentions were. For months after the nightmares started I was hardly sleeping, that's how bad it was. They were coming night after night, probably because it wasn't working how you had hoped." He saw as a guilty look fell upon her face as if he was right. "It was affecting my work, Xandria. I was so tired from being woken up in the middle of the night that I could hardly get anything done down in those mines. My family suffered because of it!" He shook his head. "Get those that you need and get out of here. You're doing no good hanging around here." He wanted absolutely nothing more to do with her, and turned, disappearing through the tree line.

She was left completely dumbfounded, staring at the trees. She sighed, looking back down to the ocean waves crashing beneath her. "That went great," she said with another sigh. She stayed out on the cliff until long after the sun had set, then she stood and made the long trip back to the _Celestial Hawk_.

**Well, here is it. It took me forever to get over some writers block, but I finally made it and managed to get another chapter of this story. Sorry it took so long, and once I have everything transcribed into my new composition book, many, many new chapters will be on their way. This AND my new story, Wylde at Heart (if you haven't had the chance pop over there and give it a read, the next chapter of that will be up once it has been edited [come on bestie {I only josh you, take as much time as needed}]). **

**Cheers until next time.**


	4. Chapter 3

"You're really not going, Ky-ele?" Annie said, surprised.

Ky-ele just sighed, not up to really convince her. He hasn't slept at all through the night. He was surprised he even made it to the water pump this morning.

"Come on, Ky-ele, don't pretend that you don't hear me. Her ship is leaving tomorrow. You should-"

"Should do what, Annie?" he snapped at her, his sleeplessness getting to him. "Go with her and get caught up in this war and die? I'm no warrior, so why bother going if death will be the end result?"

"Don't go for the war then. Besides, if they find out you have talents that lie elsewhere, you can contribute in some other way. Don't just go to aid in the war, Ky-ele, go for her."

Ky-ele scoffed. "She has her prince, why would she even want me around? I'm part of a past that she wants nothing to do with."

"From what you've told me that hardly seems true and I believe you know that. She's been trying to contract you through dreams for years, she still cares about you."

"You call that caring? Those horrible nightmares that she has plagued me with for the past seven years are not caring! She doesn't care, Annie. She left fourteen years ago because she hated being here. She would've never returned if she didn't have to recruit for this stupid war and king of hers."

Annie was quiet as she let Ky-ele calm himself down. "Ky-ele, you're upset because she left all those years ago, you're bitter. But can you blame her for leaving? She had dreams and wanted to go and see the rest of the world. The last time you two spoke to each other, you basically told her that those dreams were childish. You were supposed to be her best friend, someone she loved. That one comment from you, someone so close to her must have been devastating."

He shook his head. "I can't go anyways, my family…"

"Ky-ele, stop with the excuses. Forget any reason you'd give for why you can't go. It all boils down to you and her. You don't want to go because you're still mad she left. And now where she is, and she's apologized and everything. She's already proven that she can help everyone in Summerhollow, she can help your family too. Anyone who signs up is getting two thousand gold pieces, one thousand paid just upon enlisting. That much gold could support your family for a long time." She paused momentarily, watching him. "She just wants her best friend back."

He was quiet.

"You should go."

Ky-ele picked up his jugs of water. "Thanks for the talk, Annie, didn't realize that you were on her side," he said coldly and walked away. But even as stubborn as he was, her words were getting to him.

The rest of the evening, none of his family could pull him from his thoughts. After several attempts, they left him alone. Late in the night he laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He sighed, frustrated.

"Why is this bothering me? It should be an easy answer. I can't go," he said to himself. Even as he said it though, deep down he knew he was lying to himself, even if he wasn't aware of it.

After a long time, he fell into an uneasy sleep.

**So, this is another part of a three part update. After being gone for so long, I decided that all of my characters deserved some of my attention. I know this chapter is short, but the next chapters will be much longer and filled with much excitement. **

**Cheers.**


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